Queer Eye | Issue 08

Queer Eye | Issue 08

Non-monosexuality 101

Greetings, fellow humans:

Today we set out to explain a relatively simple concept: not everyone is more attracted to one sex/gender than another.

Let’s think of people as food. You like pizza, right? Maybe you don’t, but you’re not going to get up in my grill if I do. Some people also like chocolate. Some people prefer one or the other, some both, some neither – some even like chocolate on their pizza. Some prefer different foods altogether, and others don’t mind what they’re eating provided it’s tasty. As long as everyone’s enjoying themselves and no-one’s getting sick, it’s all good.

Now replace types of food with gender identities and/or physical sex, and appreciation with sexual attraction. There you have it: the sexuality spectrum, in a nutshell. In this glance of the Queer Eye, we’re zeroing in on non-monosexual orientations.

The term “monosexual” describes any person who is sexually attracted to only one physical sex or gender identity – gay, straight, etc. “Non-monosexual” describes anyone who is sexually attracted to two or more sexes or genders.

There are three broad types of non-monosexual:
  1. Bisexuals: people who prefer two sexes or genders, whatever they may be. These are usually male and female, but can include genderqueer, androgynous and intersex.

  2. Pansexuals: people who don’t see gender identity or physical sex as a barrier to attraction, and usually don’t mind throwing all gender identities and anatomies into the mix. Genderqueer? Great. Transdude? All good. Cisgenderd (Not trans)? Damn skippy!

  3. Unlabelled people who don’t like to box themselves into one sexual orientation.

Some find that they are more frequently attracted to one gender than another, whilst others are equally attracted to two or more. Neither situation makes a non-monosexual person’s orientation any less valid – provided they are attracted to more than one at least some of the time, they can claim whichever works for them.
This article first appeared in Issue 8, 2014.
Posted 4:31pm Sunday 13th April 2014 by Orion.